Danniella Westbrook

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Danniella Westbrook (born 5 November, 1973 in Essex) is a British actress and presenter, known for playing Samantha Mitchell in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders from 1990 to 2000. However, she is probably more famous for her much publicised personal life, rather than her acting credentials.

Contents 1 Life in EastEnders 2 Cocaine addiction 3 Recent work 4 Personal life 5 External links

[edit] Life in EastEnders

Westbrook joined the Sylvia Young Theatre School at a young age. After appearing in several advertisements, a video for the band Queen and a minor role in Grange Hill, she was put forward for the role of Sam Mitchell (the younger sister of Phil and Grant) in EastEnders. Her audition was successful and she made her first appearance on the hit soap in 1990. During her initial stint on the show, Westbrook became a regular on the London party circuit and was rarely out of the British tabloids. Press interest escalated due to her off-screen and turbulent relationship with Brian Harvey, who was a member of British boy-band East 17. Despite featuring in some prominent storylines, rumours of Daniella's recreational drug-taking and poor and tardy attendance on set prompted the producers to ask her to leave the hit soap in 1993.[1] A week after her exit Westbrook landed the part of 'Dawn' in Frank Stubbs Promotes, she also played a part in Dave Stewart's directional film debut, Entertaining Mr. Simpson. The film was shown at various film festivals around the world, including Cannes.

In 1995, thinking that Westbrook had cleaned up her act, the producers at EastEnders asked her back to the soap a second time. However, Danniella was still regularly using drugs and in 1996 she was written out of the soap again.[2] Following her second departure, Danniella was involved in a near fatal car accident, which left her with severe facial injuries, including a dislocated eye. Danniella survived, and after corrective surgery, sustained no long-term or major disfigurement[3].

In 1999, the EastEnders producers decided to reintroduce the character of Sam Mitchell back into the show. Although they initially considered recasting the role to another actress and despite all her past problems, they decided to give Danniella another chance and she was asked back for a third time. This was largely down to former BBC executive Mal Young who said, "The producers phoned me and said 'We are bringing Sam Mitchell back and we'd like to recast'. I hadn't been through the past encounters with her and thought they were judging her slightly unfairly and believing a lot of stuff that was going on in the tabloids." The late Mike Reid who played Frank Butcher between 1988 and 2000 slammed Mal's decision. Speaking in August 2005, he said "If I had been the Executive Producer, I would have gone 'No, I can't trust her,' and I wouldn't have had her back. So for Mal Young to bring her in again and do what he did with her, I was very surprised." During her time away, Daniella's excessive use of cocaine had completely eroded away her nasal septum. In order to hide this from the audience, Danniella was only filmed in ways that would keep her septum hidden from view. In doing this, Danniella was able to keep her damaged septum a secret from both the viewers and the press. Yet in an episode filmed in 1999 the cameras managed to pick up on what the cast, crew and millions of viewers watching didn't. Eight months after her return, on the closed set of EastEnders, the truth was out. However, Daniella's drug taking only worsened and in 2000, she was asked to leave EastEnders for a third and final time.[4] Since her departure the character of Sam Mitchell has been recast and was played by Kim Medcalf from 2002 - 2005.

[edit] Cocaine addiction

In May 2000, Danniella was photographed at the British Soap Awards, where an image of her missing septum was given to a series of tabloid newspapers, unveiling her secret and highlighting her excessive drug abuse. Hounded by the press and with public concern at its peak, Danniella was checked into rehab and six months later, she appeared on the Channel 4 show 'The Priory' with the claim that she was clean and had been free from drugs for months. However, hosts Jamie Theakston and Zoe Ball struggled to get coherent answers from Danniella, who appeared to be heavily under the influence of drugs despite her claims of abstinence[5]. Danniella has since been quoted as saying that the shocking image of her drug induced performance on 'The Priory' was the motivation she needed to prompt her to re-enter rehab in order to kick her drug habit, which she has now successfully done. Danniella has since undergone reconstructive surgery on her nose to replace her eroded septum.

Danniella has been painfully honest about her drug addiction, featuring in several documentaries, including an interview with British journalist Martin Bashir for the Tonight with Trevor McDonald show and Danniella Westbrook: My Nose and Me for Channel 4. Her motivation behind this was to deter people from using drugs and to show the effects that drugs can have. It has been reported that during the worst period of her addiction, she was using 6 grams of cocaine a day, and spending over £300 a day. She has estimated that she has spent over £250,000 on drugs and has admitted that during her lowest ebb she attempted suicide several times.[6] Since Daniella's recovery many EastEnders cast members, including Martine McCutcheon, Mike Reid, Barbara Windsor and Sid Owen have stated that Daniella's abuse became so bad that they feared it would soon claim her life[7].

[edit] Recent work

In 2003 Danniella was a contestant in the British ITV reality series I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. Despite being a popular candidate for winning, Danniella found the environment traumatic, saying that she missed her children and wasn't psychologically prepared for the hardship of jungle life. She quit the show before being voted off.[8]

She recently co-presented Cosmetic Surgery Live alongside Vanessa Feltz, an apt platform for her as she is known to have had several breast enhancements under the supervison of Dr. James Frane. Danniella also presents a series of fitness DVDs. She has also appeared in the reality series I'm Famous and Frightened! and Most Haunted and in the television comedy sketch show Bo' Selecta. She is currently presenting 'Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns' with Derek Acorah on LIVINGtv.

After Kim Medcalf quit the role of Sam Mitchell in 2005 a tabloid rumour suggested that Danniella would be reprising the role in her place, the rumour was, however, denied by the BBC.[9]

In April 2006 Danniella released an autobiography entitled 'The Other Side of Nowhere', which gives a graphic depiction of her struggles with cocaine.

[edit] Personal life

In 1996 Westbrook gave birth to Kai, her son by Robert Fernandez, later the subject of a News of the World article for dealing drugs[10]. Westbrook has admitted to using 5g of cocaine every single day throughout her first pregnancy.[11].

Westbrook married her first husband, van driver Ben Morgan in 1998, after knowing him for just eight weeks. The couple went to live in Australia but the marriage did not last, ending in divorce nine months later. Westbrook's estranged husband and his mother subsequently sold stories to the tabloids about her well-publicised cocaine addiction.[12]

She married her second husband, millionaire businessman Kevin Jenkins on 27 December 2001 and their daughter Jody B was born the following year. After appearing on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2003, Westbrook has admitted that she no longer wishes to be a 'celebrity'; recently commenting "I made a pact with Kevin I would do no more TV work that would take me away from home. These days, I live an ordinary life. I work occasionally, but I also do the school run and laundry and prepare my family's dinner".[13] Westbrook now lives in Kent.

Daniella is a self confessed chav [14] and is happy to demonstrate this by wearing Burberry in public[15]. This has led to her nickname of Chaviella.

[edit] External links

• Daniella Westbrook at the Internet Movie Database